Fiedler Elects Not to Make Mayoral Bid; Dismissal From TV Role Clouds Future

A month after being unceremoniously dismissed as a political commentator for KABC-TV, former Republican Rep. Bobbi Fiedler said Tuesday that she has decided not to pursue a 1989 candidacy for mayor of Los Angeles.

Fiedler, who was frequently mentioned as a possible candidate for mayor and had indicated she would consider running, said she “looked at it seriously and decided this was not for me.”

“It is possible for a Republican to win a primary and get into a runoff but I think it would be very difficult to win a general election. The city is overwhelmingly Democratic.”

Fiedler’s public profile had dropped in recent weeks when she was dismissed as a commentator on KABC-TV’s 5 p.m. newscast. She said she decided not to enter the mayoral race well before she left the station.

Fiedler, who had appeared twice weekly as a conservative opponent for liberal commentator Bill Press since mid-January, said she learned in late July, only hours before she was to do a show, that she was being released.

Called Economic Move

“I got a call from Terry Crofoot, the news director,” Fiedler said. “He told me, for economic reasons, he wasn’t going to be able to keep me. . . . They didn’t say anything else.”

Although Fiedler left the door ajar to seeking office in the future, the latest developments further remove from public life an outspoken populist who rode to prominence during an emotional anti-busing movement and remained in office for nearly a decade. Fiedler, 50, was elected to the city school board in 1977 and to Congress in 1980.

Fiedler said KABC-TV had been “under a lot of economic stress” and other reporters were let go about the same time she was dismissed. She would not discuss her salary or whether she had a contract with the station. KABC-TV recently hired sportscaster Jim Hill for a reported $750,000 annually and made Paul Moyer the city’s first $1-million-a-year anchor.

But two KABC-TV veterans who requested anonymity said they were told Fiedler was released not to save money but because the station’s leadership felt she “just wasn’t working out” in the debate format. They said they had not heard anything more.

News Director Crofoot was on vacation Tuesday and could not be reached. Calls to KABC-TV General Manager John Severino were not returned.

Spirited Sparring

Press, who is weighing a bid for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate next year, has continued to do solo commentaries since Fiedler’s departure. He and Fiedler generally engaged in spirited verbal sparring on topics ranging from the death penalty to surrogate motherhood.

For Fiedler, the show provided exposure on a highly rated news program, visibility that could have proven valuable if she chose to seek office again. In an April interview, she said, “I get a pretty good reaction from my constituency base, so to speak.”

On Tuesday, she downplayed the effect of her dismissal. “It wasn’t the be-all and end-all of my personal or professional future,” she said.

Fiedler left Congress in January after unsuccessfully seeking the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate last year. She and her campaign manager, Paul Clarke, were indicted after state Sen. Ed Davis (R-Valencia) charged they tried to bribe him by offering to help retire his campaign debt if he withdrew. A judge subsequently threw out the indictments as groundless, but they hamstrung Fiedler’s campaign.

School Board Defeat

Fiedler, who has been doing some work as a lobbyist and pursuing other business ventures since leaving Washington, suffered another indirect defeat earlier this year. Barbara Romey, whom Fiedler strongly backed for a Los Angeles school board seat, was upset by Julie Korenstein in a June 2 runoff. Clarke, who married Fiedler Feb. 15, was Romey’s campaign manager.

Although Fiedler retains a following among San Fernando Valley Republicans, she fared poorly in a Los Angeles Times poll of prospective mayoral candidates taken in June.